The 3 Best Written White Papers for ICO

Part 1 → A Series on the Future of Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrencies are taking the world of financial technology by quite a storm. And that’s why more and more institutions as well as users are adopting blockchain technologies. As a result, several companies building cryptocurrency businesses are turning to ICOs or initial coin offerings for fundraising. Making an ICO a success calls for loads of effort going into the making of a professional white paper that appeals to the market.

The White Paper is a hugely significant document that an enterprise or a team writes and presents before the launch of their ICO. It aims towards explaining the project in terms of its technicalities, financials and members involved.

The 3 Best Written White Papers for ICO
Gaining an insight into the a few successful ICO projects will explain what all is required to work up a winning ICO document. Here are 3 best-written white papers for ICO that will help.

#1 White Paper → EOS
EOS is a wonderful blockchain platform that has already raised over $250 million dollars and the token sale is set to continue till July 2018. The white paper addresses the failures of current blockchain platforms and explains how latency issues will be mitigated by dividing each block into different threads and transactions. It describes that the project supports smart contracts, integrates a governance model, increases transactional throughput and goes for a proof-of-stake consensus protocol.

#2 White Paper → FileCoin
The Initial Coin Offering of Filecoin collected $257 millions with its winning white paper that looks quite like an extensively researched article. Not only the layout loaded with schemas and formulae backs the different aspects of the project in a more concrete fashion, but also keeps the white paper easy-to-follow.

#3 White Paper → Monetha
In less than half an hour, Monetha raised $37 million, featuring a thorough white paper that describes the great project of payment system for the blockchain. Right from the working plan, to utilisation plans, from token economy to service records of the team members — the white papers have got it all. Comprehensive diagrams and product architecture descriptions work even more in the favor of the project.

The Key Elements of a Winning White Paper for ICO
The white paper works quite like a detailed representation of just about every aspect of your project on paper. It should convince your audience as well as capture the interest of the investors in order to make them support your idea. Below are the key sections of a professional white paper that’ll describe the objectives, the team, the features as well as the legal issues associated with your project.

☞ Addressed Problems
The foremost part to working up a winning white paper for ICO is to describe the problems that your project is going to address. Apart from the basic idea, emphasise on why the market needs the proposed project, while identifying with the troubles that the users face with similar platforms.

☞ The Solution
With so many projects and proposals being made, your white paper should make your project stand out by explaining why is it different from the that of the competitors. Explain how your idea can benefit the target audience, discussing the market opportunities, the business model and marketing strategies, development visions, and first users of the project.

☞ Startup Team
Undoubtedly, a crucial part to your white paper is the description of the team members. Make sure you talk about the team members and advisors in terms of their backgrounds, qualifications and experience in ICO or similar projects. Multi-professional teams with success stories ensure your project makes an impactful impression on the investors, specially if you include some industry experts in your team.

☞ Token Utilisation and Economic Considerations
Your white paper should explain thorough terms about the utilisation of the funds raised. It works wonders if the project describes the distribution of tokens, the methods you will adopt for sales, dates of exchange listing, the date of onset of sales, redemption terms and security guarantees. Even the unused tokens must be addressed by explaining whether they will be recycled, sold or burned.

☞ Future Development Plans
What builds the trust of the users as well as the investors is a clear plan for future developments that your project is expected to showcase in the next 12 to 18 months. Some key elements of the plans may be a beta version launch and listing on exchange.

☞ Legal Framework Concerning the ICO
The blockchain technology and its rapid growth makes it imperative to discuss the legal jurisdiction and regulatory concerns of your initial coin offering. Include information relating to legal rights, the knowledge required, token acquisition risks, a detailed disclaimer, governing law and arbitration, and warranties to make the investors and users secure.

Most of the investors prefer a white paper that is kept detailed yet simple. Showcasing pictures or diagrams that concern the subject makes it easy to understand and cuts the time spent on going through long information pieces.

Marketing and PR Strategies Essential to the Success of the ICO
It’s as essential to have effective marketing strategies to make the ICO a hit as it’s to have an efficient project and winning whitepaper. Your marketing and PR material should be convincing enough for those who have an in-depth knowledge of cryptocurrencies, as well as those who aren’t much aware of the blockchain technology. Social media surely tops this list, so you must pay special attention to specialized forums, thematic subreddits, Quora discussions, LinkedIn professional groups and Facebook groups to promote your project. Preparing email lists and updated websites, publishing news in blogs, press releases and digital currency magazines will not only make users familiar with your project, but also build the trust of investors.

On this ending note, please review Spiking’s White Paper Google DOC. Feel free to give us your feedback. Together, we hope to present the best white paper to the crypto community of traders. Visit us at https://spiking.io

References :
https://themerkle.com/top-10-cryptocurrency-icos-throughout-2017-to-date/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ajagrawal/2017/09/20/6-tips-on-marketing-an-ico/#6fa80922c37f
https://landerapp.com/blog/5-keys-to-do-white-paper-marketing-the-right-way/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ajagrawal/2017/11/06/3-keys-to-building-a-marketing-plan-for-an-ico/#9a7a0844e299
https://hackernoon.com/what-to-look-for-in-an-ico-white-paper-successful-token-54eba3787139